


Fidelis

by sushicorps (Inclinant)



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Crushes, Everyone Loves Prompto Argentum, First Kiss, Flowers, Friends to Lovers, High School, Language of Flowers, M/M, Multi, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pining, Slow Burn, Soulmates, flower shop
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-17
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:22:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inclinant/pseuds/sushicorps
Summary: “But really, it’s crazy though, meeting your soulmate like that,” Prompto tugs at his tie the moment they step out of the gates, loosening his shirt collar. He tucks his hands into his pockets and tilts his head up to the sky. The summer sun lights up the freckles on his face, makes his eyes bluer than usual."They’re really lucky. And they are rose-marked too…that means a true love.""Lucky them,” Noctis says dryly, eyes half on his phone as he skirts closer to the cooling shade of the trees lining the sidewalk. Then he thinks through Prompto’s words and looks up to catch the wistful edge in the other’s gaze."Do you want a soulmate?"[hiatus]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I got dragged unwillingly into this fandom and no one can stop me from this tropey af self indulgent journey straight into hell.

Prince Noctis of Lucis is born with twin sylleblossoms dusting his shoulders, but only King Regis knows that their faded grey-blue had only unfurled as Aulea leans down to press an exhausted kiss over her baby’s forehead, tears tracking down to land in the heart of the slowly unfurling petals.

 

It is rare for a soul’s blossom to not mark the heart over which it flowers, but not unheard of. So Regis’ closest advisors mutter and murmur, choosing to think instead of the native lands of which the sylleblossoms blooms. Of Tenebrae and the young Oracle born to that land, for surely that must be what the prince’s mark means.

 

Even if the Oracle herself had been born with sageflower over her heart.

 

But when Aulea departs when Noctis is but a year old, he knows.

 

When he prays to the Crystal begging for another way, he knows.

 

When Noctis is eight and he has to hold his broken child in his hands as he rushes to Tenebrae, only to watch the sylleblossoms spill down his twisted back, he knows.

 

So when Regis looks down at the bowing figure of his son on the steps of his throne and the modest retinue that Noctis had selected for himself, it takes all he has to hold himself to the cold arms of the throne and see his son go.

 

But he gives in anyway, despite the pull of the crystal holding him back. His son has lost and will lose so much, if the fates are allowed to be fickle then surely his small act of mortal selfishness will matter not.

 

“What now?” Noctis grumbles as he turns back, but his eyes wear a worried expression for all that the corners of his mouth is downturned with feigned annoyance.

 

“I fear...I have left too much unsaid,” Regis’ lips are thin and tight, eyes seeking out his son’s. “You place a great burden on those who will bear with you.”

 

“I ask not that you guide my wayward son, merely that you remain at his side.”

 

He turns to survey the men his son has chosen to accompany him, feels their youth so keenly even as his gaze brushes over their determined faces.

 

Ignis Scientia, his son’s personal advisor, marked with a flower of mourning on his wrist.

 

Gladiolus Amicitia, his son’s shield, with a blossom of sacrifice on his nape.

 

And…. Regis frowns as his eyes fall on the last youth shifting awkwardly from side to side even as he hovers somewhere behind Gladio and looks slightly ready to bolt. He doesn’t know his soulblossom, Regis realises now. The cheerful youth had always hinted it was a common flower - a tulip maybe, or a carnation or wildflower, but...it wouldn’t matter.

 

“And another thing,” Regis is stalling for time now, can feel the seconds slipping through his grasp like water through a sift.

 

“Take heed. Once you set forth, you cannot turn back.”

 

“You think I would?”

 

He levels his son a final look, gaze sweeping and searching, mapping out a face he may never see again.

 

“I need only know that you are ready to leave home behind.”

 

“Don’t know about you, but I’m ready as I’ll ever be.” His son mutters, fidgeting on his feet and clasping his hands behind him, right where Regis knows lies the thickest cluster of sylleblossoms on his back.

 

“Take care on the long road,” He says with finality. “Remember, wheresoever you should go, the line of Lucis goes with you.”

 

So he bears his hand down on his son’s shoulder, right over where he knows lies the first sylleblossom of his fate.

 

“Walk tall, my son.”

 

And if there is a slowly blooming sylleblossom on his palm when he pulls away, Regis just curls his fingers into a fist and pretends not to see.

 

Because the sylleblossom is a flower of loss, of tragedy, and of death.

 

* * *

 

It is said that the gold capped spires of Solheim rose over a sea of flowers, the thousand coloured blossoms stretching as far as the eye could see, wherever the sun’s light went,, they would be. And the blossoms were as bright and as brilliant as the people who bore their marks, souls shining like the sunlight that had blessed them so.

 

The are many legends about the soulblossoms, the floral marks that unfurl over a baby’s heart the moment they first touch the sunlight. They are a mark of one’s soul, a precious life blossoming unto this star. A power beyond the Astrals themselves, one only the Fates could touch.

 

Sometimes, if you are lucky, life will bring you alongside other souls who will touch your own, leave a mark over your skin, a part of their flower blooming over you to bless the path you walk down.

 

And sometimes, people whisper and wonder and marvel, if you are very, very lucky, some souls will touch yours so deeply they mark your heart...and you will find that your blossoms are one and the same, as only soulmates can be.

 

* * *

 

_Senior Year of High School_

_Summer_

The whispers in the background had been going on all day and Noctis resists the urge to groan and fold his head into his arms. This definitely counts as one of those days where he shouldn’t have even bothered getting out of bed. To be fair, Ignis had all but kicked him out of the apartment in his school uniform, so it wasn’t for the lack of trying.

 

“It’s got to be a royal aster, right? The purple aster is the royal flower after all.”

 

“Oh, but imagine if it were a _rose!”_

 

“Well, I heard it’s an evening primrose.”

 

“ _You j_ ust want it to be a primrose because that’s your flower.”

 

“Hey, who wouldn’t want to be soulmates with the _prince?_ ”

 

Noctis gives up pretending to ignore the giggles and turns away to prop his head up on his hands, staring pointedly out of the window. It’s the last day before school is finally out for the summer, but this level of gossip and excitement is a bit too high even for that. His classmates and the rest of his senior batch had long since gotten over the fact that they were going to school with _the prince!_ , or at least, given up on talking about it in earshot, but junior girls had been stopping by his class to stare all day.

 

He drags his phone out of his pocket to frown at the time. Why wasn’t Prompto’s club meeting ending yet? It’s the summer break, what did the Student Council even need to do over the holidays?

 

His thoughts are interrupted- _thank the Astrals_ \- by a familiar cheerful voice and a friendly slap on his back.

 

“Sorry for the wait, buddy!”

 

“It’s cool,” Noctis shrugs, but as he pulls himself up he feels lighter than he’s been feeling all day, warm like a ray of summer sun.

 

“Hey, did you hear?” Prompto drops into the seat in front of him and begins to scoop his books into his bag, “Some second year met their soulmate last weekend, at a...debate meet, I think? It’s the talk of the whole school!

 

“Apparently they were both rose-marked, so when they shook hands after the competition roses were blooming all around and up their arms or something. Pretty romantic stuff.”

 

“Trust _you_ to find that romantic.”

 

“Oh,” Prompto flies a hand to his forehead, then clutches at his heart dramatically. “What can I say? I’m such a hopeless romantic.”

  
  
“Sure know that,” Noct drawls. He eyes the other students pressing in as they step into the corridor, then falls in closer beside Prompto. Thankfully, the other doesn’t seem to mind their bumping shoulders.

 

“After all the rom-com movies I’ve accompanied you to?”

 

“C’mon, you liked them too!”

 

“But really, it’s crazy though, meeting your soulmate like that,” Prompto tugs at his tie the moment they step out of the gates, loosening his shirt collar. He tucks his hands into his pockets and tilts his head up to the sky. The summer sun lights up the freckles on his face, makes his eyes bluer than usual.

 

"They’re really lucky. And they are rose-marked too…that means a true love."

  
   
"Lucky them,” Noctis says dryly, eyes half on his phone as he skirts closer to the cooling shade of the trees lining the sidewalk. Then he thinks through Prompto’s words and looks up to catch the wistful edge in the other’s gaze.

 

 "Do you want a soulmate?"  
 

Prompto’s eyes go huge. “ _What?!_ ”

 

“I mean-”

  
“Oh c’mon Noct! You don’t just- no one just suddenly asks these sort of questions.”

 

Prompto turns away, refuses to meet Noctis is suddenly burningly self-conscious... but he really wants to know, he realises now.

 

“Well, do you?”

 

“W-well, I mean, it’s...it’s nice to think about?”

 

He kicks at a pebble on the street, sends it scuttling down the scorching sidewalk and looking everywhere except at Noctis himself.

 

“Not all of us are lucky enough to have a….a r-rare soulblossom,” He clears his throat and looks hesitant for a moment, but then he’s back to elbowing Noctis in the ribs with a shit eating grin. “And not all of us can be the _prince_ , you know.. Some of us have to depend on our sufferingly good looks. Ah, the burden of beauty- ow hey!”

 

They dissolve into laughter for a good minute before Prompto manages to catch his breath.

  
  
“I mean, who doesn’t? Don’t you want one, Noct?”

  
  
“I never really thought about it I guess,” Noctis shrugs. His phone is hot and slippery in his fingers, both hands suddenly behind his back again, pressing against the base of his spine.

  
“Sure, with all your princely duties and all. Besides, isn’t your soulmate the Oracle?”

  
  
“Luna isn’t… _look_ , she’s just my childhood friend. I was _eight_ when I last saw her.”

 

“Yeah, but I mean, you two have the same flowers…”

 

Noctis falls silent, a twinge of guilt spearing through his chest at the other’s words.

 

Except they don’t. But Prompto doesn’t know that.

 

The look Prompto gives him is oddly serious, seems strange on his face.

 

“You two have the same flower... _right?_ ”

 

Noctis closes his eyes.

 

“...Yeah, yeah we do.”

 

* * *

 Noctis had always disliked summer - the season made afternoons too hot for naps and the days were too long. School being out just meant being shunted into more Council meetings, more training sessions with the Crownsguard, and more royal tutorage sessions with stuffy Citadel historians who quizzed him on his ancestors from centuries past. Some days, he doesn’t even have time to text Prompto, so exhausted by the time he returns to his apartment that he just nods off by the door.

 

Today is one of the rare days off that Ignis has scheduled for him and he’s been looking forward to this for weeks now. He will meet Prompto, and then they will hit the arcade and that ice cream shop with like three hundred flavours that Ignis hates so much. Then they’ll head over to Noct’s apartment to finally have that Monster Hunter showdown to settle the scores once and for all.

 

It will be great.

 

“The decorations for the Solstice are coming along nicely I see. Soon the streets will be busting with the flower markets and festival bazaars,” Ignis comments as he turns down into the Main Street. Above them, floral flags fluttered from the lampposts and loose petals from the newly placed potted plants swirled through the air.

 

“Will you be attending the Summer Solstice this year?”

 

“Probably?” Noctis shrugs, drumming his fingers on his thigh.  “I don’t know...maybe if Dad’s feeling well enough this year to make the royal parade.”

 

“I meant, with Prompto, perhaps? This year will be your eighteenth Solstice.”

 

Right. The Soulblossom Solstice had always been the most important event in Insomnia, but for those coming of age, it was also the day for the traditional flower exchange between close friends and family to celebrate their rite of passage into adulthood. It just wasn't something the royal family did, having a different set of royal traditions, so Noctis had all but forgotten about it.

 

“I….don’t know,” Noctis says finally. What if Prompto already has plans? Surely his family would go to the festivals with him, or at least celebrate it at home. Or maybe…

 

There was another sort of flower exchange popular during the Solstice, a more intimate kind beneath the midnight fireworks.

 

Maybe someone has already asked Prompto to go to the Solstice with them. Or maybe Prompto has plans to ask someone to go with him-

 

Come to think of it, he doesn’t even know what Prompto’s Soulblossom _is._

 

“Maybe you should ask him?” Ignis says mildly and Noctis just flops over on the backseat, texting furiously to ignore the conversation and his spiraling thoughts.

 

_> dude where are you? we’ve been circling Main Street for ages _

 

_> shit sorry sorry! i’ve just been busy with work. i got a new job for the summer! lemme text you the address _

 

“And here we are….Helianthus Flora,” Ignis announces as he pulls up by the curb. Noctis props himself up to peer at the tiny shopfront through the tinted car windows.

 

It was probably more accurate to call it a garden rather than a shop. The large window display burst with colours of all sorts, the shop’s name in looping gold calligraphy barely visible amidst the sea of flowers.

 

Rows of tulips - red, orange, yellow, pink - lined up along the red brick wall, with pots of marigolds and daisies and carnations crowding around the baby blue door. A spindly white wire frame spilling red lilies and pink azaleas and bright purple begonias struggled to bear its heavy load by the side. Puffs of baby’s breath hung like swirls of white candy cotton in sprigs from the top of the door frame, with yellow daffodils and blue freesias gently tumbling down the sides.

 

“Ah, a florist. I imagine they must need the extra help with the Solstice coming up.”

 

“It must be….” Noctis mumbles, more to himself because hadn’t Prompto told his summer job was at the Crow’s Nest?

 

Maybe he got it wrong.

 

They sit in the car, engine idling for a good minute or two, before Noctis just sighs and tosses his phone into his pocket.

 

“I’ll just go get him.”

 

“Of course.” The cars doors unlock with a click and Noctis slips out, stretching a little as he steps out into the sidewalk. As he walks in, the tulips and carnations sway in the wind, bright spots of colours without a care in the world.

 

Common flowers, but they looked so happy.

 

“Oh sweet Shiva, you’re the _prince_ \- I mean, welcome to Helianthus Flora, stocking flowers from all over Eos. What soul flower are you looking for today?” The girl behind the counter says in a single breath and perfectly fixed smile, like she hadn’t just dropped an entire bouquet of lilies in her hands at his entry.

 

“Uh….I-”

 

“Noct!” Prompto bursts out from the swinging wooden doors behind the counter; arms filled with crepe paper and gold spirals of ribbon. There’s an errant daisy in his hair, dainty white petals sticking out over soft blond strands and Noctis resists the urge to reach over to pluck it out.

 

“Sorry Elena, I should’ve said something but I didn’t realise I was running so late. I was going to meet Noct outside I-”

 

Elena turns from openly staring at Noctis to shoot Prompto a pointed look.

 

“You never told me your _friend_ was the _prince-_ ”

 

“It’s not like I could just say it!”

 

There’s something about the knowing smiles they are exchanging and the tone of Prompto’s voice, light, happy and more at ease than Noctis remembers the past few times that they’ve met. And Prompto is blushing a little, head ducked like he does whenever he doesn’t quite know what to say. He’s looking away, not meeting Noctis’ eyes.

 

Distantly, Noctis thinks of their second-year when Prompto had crushed on one of the senior girls in the Student Council and would literally not shut up about how perfect she was. And if Noctis thinks about it, Elena does look a bit like her - all long, styled dark hair, confident smile and a cool, calm front.

 

“I see,” Elena says with a contemplative look, like she’s trying hard to decide on something, and settles on, “That’s...really cool.”

 

“Thanks, El.”

 

“Oh and Prom? Bring a nice bouquet to the Solstice kay?” Elena grins and Prompto returns it after a beat, and Noctis feels a cold wash of icy realisation strike him.

 

_Oh._

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The best part about Prompto working at a flowershop is that he gets to see him with flowers.
> 
> The worst part about Prompto working at a flowershop is that he gets to see him with flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter grew into a monster and I wound up having to axe it in half.

So it takes Noctis some time but he eventually comes to terms with things: If Prompto really likes Elena, then he is going to be the most kick-ass wingman in the whole of Lucis for his best buddy.

 

Even if he has to look wingman tactics up on the internet because Gladio had been no help at all, just doubled over laughing when he’d asked him about it and then proceeded to kick his ass in training.

 

That is how Noctis finds himself standing outside the little florist in sweltering noon-time sun and wondering if he’s really hearing what he’s hearing.

 

“Well, like I said, you could always strip-”

 

“What?! _No!_ I’m pretty sure that’s treas-”

 

There’s probably a perfectly innocent reason for this, they’re in broad daylight for crying out loud. So Noctis makes up his mind and quickly strolls in before he can regret it.

 

“What are you all...stripping?”

 

“Noct! _Noct?!_ ” Prompto actually jumps three feat into the air, face turning bright tulip red. “No, Noct-not _not,_  Noct not, oh _Astrals,_ not _you_ , I mean- “

 

“We were discussing if stripping all.the leaves off the flower stalk would make a display we were commissioned  for look nicer, or if we should leave some there for accents,“ Elena says calmly, but she can’t quite stop the edges of her lips from twitching. There is a particularly devious light in her eyes and Noctis isn’t quite sure why but he takes a step back anyway.

 

“Uh...sure, sounds very floristy.”

 

Prompto coughs, once, twice, wringing and waving his hands about his sides before nodding furiously. “Yep! Flowers! Totally flowers! Very floristy I’m just uh, gonna go to the backroom to...move...something-”

 

There’s a suspicious thump that comes after the door closes, followed by something clattering over and muffled swearing.

 

“That better not be my new flower stand,” Elena yells after him, then sighs. She turns back and blinks at Noctis, then looks frantically back at the backdoor for a moment and makes an annoyed face at how it remains closed. Taking a breath, she turns back to Noctis with a default customer service smile that doesn’t quite extend to her eyes.

 

“So...um, your...highness?” She frowns at the words, then shrugs and and begins busying her hands with a roll of ribbon. “What brings you to my little flower shop."

 

“You _own_ the place?”

 

“Yeah...didn’t Prompto tell you? That’s why he is helping around the shop. Well, it is really my family’s shop, but my grandma can’t run it anymore so here I am.”

 

“Oh. Uh, cool.”

 

At least Elena doesn’t seem to notice him tripping over his words from where she is tapping away at the register. “He usually works the morning shift, although I keep trying to get him to come in later. If you want to find him next time, his shift ends at four in the afternoon.”

 

“Actually, please do. He keeps trying to stay longer even though it’s really not necessary. I’ve run this place just fine without help and I’ll manage -”

 

“Yeah, I mean, Prompto’s really helpful. He’s a….really great...guy,” Noct finishes weakly, feeling everything that he had researched deserting him.

 

Gods, he’s really the worst wingman isn’t he?.

 

Her fingers pause and she looks up over at him - this time, the slow smile does extend to her eyes and there’s this strange light that makes Noctis slightly worried. Just a little bit.

 

“Yeah, he is. Of course, you can feel free to come and hang out any time too, your highness. Know what? I’ll set up your own personal chair for you, with a _perfect_ view of the counter.”

 

“Uh, that’s nice but I really don’t need-”

 

“I insist,” Elena says, with a tone remarkably similar to Ignis’ that signaled that that was all to the discussion and Noctis shuts up on instinct, still confused at what's going on.

 

Thankfully, he’s saved by the bell over the door ringing madly and someone rushes past him madly and slams their hands on the counter.

 

“Please tell me you still have red carnations,” The man says between pants, eyes wild and his jacket all askew. “I’ve been to over ten florists and they’re all, all of them are out of red carnations. I know that carnations are common flowers but I didn’t think they would get sold out this fast, it’s still some time to the Solstice-”

 

The man actually looks like he’s on the verge of tears. Noctis steps back a little towards the little flower chillers, but Elena moves to calm the man down.

 

“Hey, it’s going to be alright - this must be for a really special event, an anniversary maybe?”

  
“It’s our very first anniversary,” The man confesses. “I was such a wreck trying to figure out how to ask her out for the Solstice last year but she surprised me by asking me out first.”

 

“I’m so sorry for barging in like this by the way,” He offers, tucking his hands back into his jacket pocket as he shuffles a little, self-consciously. “Flowers just get so expensive this time of the year and I’ve been saving up, but now they’re all out and the florist down the block has raised their prices three times. Marcy’s worth every gil but I wanted to bring her out to a nice dinner too.”

 

“That sounds like a great first anniversary plan. And relax-”

 

“We’ve got red carnations!” Prompto declares as he suddenly bursts out of the storeroom again, with a bundle of said red flowers in hand. Elena rolls her eyes but laughs a little as she turns back to the customer.

 

“As I was saying, you’re in luck - we have one last bundle of red carnations left.”

 

“Oh thank the Astrals?” The man slumps in relief. “Oh but if the cost-”

 

Prompto winces, and shoots Elena a pleading look.

 

“We don’t raise our prices here even for the Solstice, sir,” Elena lays the red stalks gently on the countertop, drawing up a sheet of white crepe paper. “I’ll wrap them up for you if you just select what type of wrapping you want.”

 

“The basic bouquet is fine, thank you, thank you so much, you have no idea what this means to me.”

 

“It’s our pleasure, sir!” Prompto says brightly. “Your anniversary is gonna go awesomely!”

 

The man’s grip on his wallet falters a little. “Yeah...I hope, it’s all felt too good to be true for me. Marcy’s carnation may be red...but mine is yellow.”

 

_“Oh-”_

 

Elena crinkles the crepe paper then smooths it out with her fingertips and a low swoosh.

 

“You know, flower meanings are only a guide from old legends and no one really knows how to interpret the marks anyway. I mean, those old scholars keep publishing new dictionaries every year. So what if you’ve got a yellow carnation? Maybe it just means you’ve overcome so much hardships to get to where you’re at now. It means you’re stronger than your destiny.”

 

“Trust me, I’ve got a pink gardenia,” Elena ties a red ribbon around the bouquet, finishing it off with a little bow with lace edges and then handing it over. “The matchmaker flower can’t be wrong, can it?

 

“Have a good anniversary!” She waves goodbye as the man leaves with his bouquet.

 

“...I’m sorry about the flowers,” Prompto begins, drooping a little as he looks apologetically at Elena. “I know it was our last carnation delivery for the month but…”

 

Elena sighs and then whacks him lightly on the head with a roll of crepe paper.

 

“Don’t be silly. And stop looking at me like that-”

 

“Nah, I was just thinking you were so cool just now,” Prompto beams and Noctis shifts, his nerves rankling a little at the tone of Prompto’s voice.

 

“Oh spare your praise, now weren’t you supposed to go off with the prince? Since you finally have an off day from the Nest.”

 

“You’re _super_ cool, El,” Prompto repeats again as he skips over to where Noctis has been standing to the side for the entire exchange and grabs him by the arm, startling him out of his confusion.

 

“Just _go_.”

 

“Got it!”

 

* * *

“So...I never realised flowers were so expensive,” Noctis says at last when they’re finally out of the shop and out of sight of Elena. He turns to look at Prompto who is busy rummaging in his bag for something, feeling the knot in his chest loosening a little.

 

“Yeah, they get really expensive when the Solstice comes around,” Prompto pulls a face, then scowls again at his sling bag when he clearly doesn’t find what he is looking for. “Everyone wants flowers too and it’s so hard to get new stocks in, ‘specially when there are less and less flowers coming into Insomnia."

 

Still, he can’t stop thinking about the customer just now and his flower, or the fact that his flower was different from that of his partner’s. Noctis may not know a lot about flower meanings, but he does know the common ones and while red carnations signify a devoted love, yellow ones meant disappointments and rejections.

 

He wonders what Prompto’s flower means. Surely it is as bright as his best friend’s heart, it has got to be.

 

And not at all like Noctis’.

 

“Is it…” Noctis frowns as he catches his fingers interlaced behind his back again, gripping at the back of his shirt. He tries to brush away the thoughts of the dark blue petals that lay beneath. “Is it true...what Elena said?”

 

“I don’t know a lot about flower meanings,” Noctis confesses, remembering all the times he had asked his father about why he didn’t have any flower language classes when all the other kids did. All the other kids seemed to know everything about what their own marks meant and could name a dozen flowers and more. He wanted to know what the dark blue petals on his back meant too!

 

He had found out anyway from a nurse who had been too careless with her words and then he never asked about classes again.

 

“But if your flower...doesn’t mean something good, it...doesn’t have to be that way?”

 

Prompto pauses in his search and looks up at Noctis. There’s a slump to his shoulders that Noctis hadn’t noticed before, a tired look at the edge of his eyes.

 

“I...I- The truth is-”

 

He takes a deep breath, then closes his eyes and drops his gaze. “Sorry, I meant...I don’t know. About this whole soulblossom thing...I-”

 

“I’m supposed to have a granola bar in here somewhere, but I can’t find it-”

 

Noctis decides that it’s best to leave the topic be.

 

“We can always grab something to eat before going back.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine! I’m sure my bar is in here somewhere-”

 

Prompto freezes as his stomach gives a loud rumble.

 

“C’mon Prom, my treat.”

 

“...Thanks Noct.”

 

* * *

 

The best part about Prompto working at a flowershop is that he gets to see him with flowers.

 

The worst part about Prompto working at a flowershop is that he gets to see him with flowers.

 

It’s a good look, Noctis thinks to himself from where he is folded up on his tiny stool in a corner and crumpling up the nice navy shirt he’d had to cajole Ignis to iron for him just last night. He’s squashed behind a spray of tiny blue flowers with white starry centres, nursing the white chocolate caramel almond macchiato with extra whip and sprinkles he’d gotten from the Sunbucks across the street and pretending to be busy with something on his phone (and not staring at the counter that he has the perfect view of.)

 

A couple is at the counter, matching light pink roses intertwined across their interlocked hands and Prompto is wrapping up a bouquet of roses, deep red for true love and the soft pink of their soulmarks, for them. The shop is small, so flowers are crammed everywhere, on the floors, over the counter, by the doors and falling from the ceiling.  There’s blooms of starbursts along the counter’s top shelf in shades just shy of Prompto’s light blond, softer hydrangea blues that match his eyes, calla lilies with the same bright clarity of his laughter, lips a soft...

 

Noctis tears his gaze away from the roses and frowns furiously at his phone.

 

He’s been on too many photo outings with Prompto, Noctis thinks. And there’s suddenly a strange feeling in his chest, like his heart’s skipped off and gone tumbling down….yeah he really needs to ease off the caffeine and sugar. Ignis had always said his drink of choice was a sugary abomination to the fine art of coffee.

 

It’s been a slow morning and the shop is heady with the scent of so many blossoms. They had stayed up till late last night playing this new RPG, Last Reverie 15 (or at least, Noctis had). Prompto had only managed to get about halfway through the game before Noctis suddenly found him dozing off on his shoulder, messy blond hair flopped over his eyes and a little tuft of it flying with every slow, sleepy exhale. Noctis had given up trying to wrestle with the controller five minutes in and settled for browsing the net aimlessly on his phone instead (anyway, he had looked up the game's ending and it was a real downer one where the protagonist and all his friends die to save the world). Prompto's a soft, warm weight on his shoulder and it was only when Ignis comes back to nag at them to finally go to bed that Noctis realises that an entire hour had gone by and his shoulder has completely gone stiff.

 

Noctis had only mustered up the courage to drop in only after asking Prompto why he’d been so free to be on King’s Knight all morning. It turns out that Elena, who turned out to be the owner of the shop, had left early in the morning to some flower auction just outside the city. Apparently, it was a big deal and florists from all over would be descending upon it - ‘it’s not just an auction, it’s a _fight_ ! To the _death,_ Noct! Or at least that’s what El said, but she totally had this unholy gleam in her eyes. It was super creepy.”

 

At the counter, Prompto is entertaining the group of teenage girls that’d come in after Noctis, all hand in hand and giggling, but had earnestly asked for friendship bouquets. There’s a whole array of bright friendship yellow flowers in front of him, though Noctis can only recognise the common daffodils and marigold. He’s holding a couple in his hands, svelte sprigs with dainty soft gold petals that casts a soft halo off his eyes in the light from the skylight overhead and Noctis can’t really tell if the light in the girls’ eyes are directed at the flowers or...

 

Then a couple of them look over at him too and Noctis would usually brush it off without a care but then Prompto follows their gaze with a dopey smile of his own and Noctis deflates behind his coffee cup.

 

This was the worst idea.

 

“This was the best idea,” Someone - Elena, Noctis’ brain fills in as he tries not to fall off his chair in surprise - declares, the ringing bell of the entrance jangling madly in her wake. She watches on as the girls walk out of the shop, bright yellow mini bouquets in hand with an approving look.

 

“Hiring a cute shop assistant is the _best_ decision I’ve made this whole year.”

 

“Oh your highness, I didn’t realise you were here too,” She dumps the mountain of papers in her hands on the counter, brushing away the stray leaves and petals from it.

 

“By the way, your phone’s upside down.”

 

Noctis blinks, then stares at his phone. It has been on the homepage of his browser for the past hour or so, and the search field is clicked so there is a whole drop down list of his past search history...which has namely been ‘How to wingman for your best friend.”  He quickly clicks it shut and then jams it into his pocket, nearly falling off the damn high stool again.

 

He hopes his face isn’t as red as it feels.

 

“Don’t worry, you’re not too bad looking yourself. Pretty sure some of the girls who come in are actually looking for you,” Elena dusts her hands on her jeans and then grins and Noctis thinks he’s starting to get what Prompto means by unholy gleam.

 

“Some of the boys too, right Promp-”

 

“I wouldn’t know-”

 

“ _Elena_ -”

 

Noctis and Prompto both start at the same time, and Prompto’s face is strangely pinched and a slow blooming red.

 

“I’m just kidding,” Elena laughs, then reaches below the counter to heft a large styrofoam box onto it.

 

“Anyway, check out what I got! Only had to beat thirty other florists for this box right here.”

 

The flowers nestled inside the box are long, broad greens stalks topped off with a flat, round brown flower head surrounded by yellow petals. It kinds of looks like one of Ignis’ frying pans. Elena reaches into the box to stand the flowers upright and detaches the container of water that had been attached at the end.

 

“What are they?” Prompto holds out a tall vase in his hands for the flowers. “I’ve never seen anything like them. Have you, Noct?”

 

Noctis shakes his head, “I’ve never seen flowers like those too.”

 

“Not even in the palace? I would’ve thought for eight hundred gil a flower, the Citadel would be one of the only places with sunflowers all the time.”

 

_“Eight hundred gil?!”_

 

What in Ifrit’s name was the flower made of, _gold?_

 

“It might as well be,” Elena shrugs and Noctis realises that he had accidentally said those words out loud. She swaddles the leaves of the sunflowers in a protective layer of plastic as she slowly stands them in the holding vase.

 

“Sunflowers only grow up North along the coast, and only in three or four small fields. Haven’t you heard the legends? They say the sunflower only grows in the sunblessed lands of old Solheim. They’re incredibly rare.”

 

“Thankfully, it’s one of those flowers that never appear as soulmarks outside of myths. I can’t imagine trying to buy one of these for someone. Right now, it’s just nobility and rich business people that buys them to show off during their Solstice parties.”

 

She waves a finger at the sunflowers. “This bunch here will be going straight into Aeris family’s Solstice Ball decor.”

 

“They’re beautiful,” Prompto says, wrapping his arms around the holding vase, eyes never leaving the soft golden petals even as he turns to show off the flowers to Noct excitably.

 

 _They're beautiful,_ Noctis agrees and then really hopes that he had not said that out loud too. He quickly turns to Elena.

 

“What do they mean?”

 

“Hm….Hope, I think. Sunflowers always seek out the sun, no matter how small a ray of sunlight, even in the darkest of nights. So the legends go.”

 

 _“Oh_ ,” Prompto breathes out, the sunflowers framing his smile. Except this time, there’s none of his usual wild brightness.

 

This time it’s tender, a gentle curving of his lips that softens his whole face, a hopeful light flickering in his eyes and Noctis’ breath catches, feels like he’s catching something very precious.

 

_Oh indeed._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a plan for this fic. A concept, a vision. And it has been spectacularly derailed by an underestimation of Noctis' ability to pine for Prompto. Noctis you dumb oblivious *shakes him*.
> 
> If only Prompto knew how brightly he shines in Noct's eyes. Anyway, more importantly, Ignis starts to plan an Intervention.
> 
> I'll also be participating a bit in Promptis fanweek next week, so that should be fun! Thanks for sticking around on this ride. Leave a comment?

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](http://sushicorps.tumblr.com/) and [twitter](https://twitter.com/sushicorps/)


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